-----------------------------------------------
- Onimusha 3: Demon Siege - Boss FAQ        / /
- version 7.5 | status: 90% complete       / /
- by majin cloud | www.cloudsrealm.net    / /
- e-mail: majincloud@hotmail.com         / /
- updated last: may 27, 2004            / /
=========================================

=======================
[- Table of Contents -]
=======================
I. Introduction
II. Battle Tips
A.	Swordplay Hints
B.	Ako's Help
III. The Bosses
A.	Ranmaru Mori
B.	Brainstern (Mecha)
C.	Marcellus
D.	Heihachi Honda I
E.	Genma Ranmaru Mori
F.	Gertrude (Guard Dog)
G.	Guildenstern
H.	Heihachi Honda II
I.	Gertrude (Guard Dog) Redux
- Sub-boss: Marcellus
J.	Vega Donna
- Sub-boss: Brainstern (Mecha)
K.	Genma Ranmaru Mori Redux
L.	Nobunaga Oda - First Interaction
M.	Nobunaga Oda - Second Interaction
N.	Demon Genma Nobunaga - Final Interaction
IV. Outroduction
V. Credits and Thanks
VI. Version History
VIII. Onimusha Links
XI. Copyright

[[--This Boss FAQ is written from the English version of Onimusha 3--]]

==================================
I. Introduction
==================================
I am making this Boss FAQ purely for two reasons. First reason, some people may feel
they need guidance in hard situation (if they are having trouble) and don't want to
bother looking at walkthroughs because they might catch something that may ruin the
game's story. Second reason, I am totally blown away at the final installment in the
Onimusha series, I thought it would be decent and alright - but I was wrong, Onimusha
3 was so in depth in many video game aspects I have to show respect some how and I
thought this would be a nice simple way too.

Also, bosses won't always be the same in the different difficulties in the game so I
thought I'd add more substance to the boss FAQ other than the obvious - plus I am a
stickler for detail so you'll get uber help from me here. So enough chatter, lets move
on to the FAQ and I hope it is helpful to those that need help.

==================================
II. Battle Tips
==================================
With every game with bosses you'll need some helpful hints on how to be proficient in
defeating them - so we'll need to start off with the basics, and I don't mean
kindergarten stuff that should come second nature to you.

A. [ Swordplay Hints ] ------
As some would know both Samanosuke and Jacques will acquire 3 weapons each throughout
the game. Some you won't have until later on in the game, and each have magic powers
and special link to you - as well as strength. So, let's get it on with the swordplay
tips.

-	Block and Strafing are probably the most important aspects to the game in
terms of survival and fighting to your advantage. If you are in a jam or
have chances to block to deflect ranged or close combat attacks use the
block button [L1] to block. Strafing can help you out move around enemies
or dodge attacks. Pressing the strafe button [R2] to move in quickly on an
enemy or swing out of there way of attacks.
-	Issen and Hajiki Issen - Issen is pressing the Square button right before
an enemy slash. Best way to pull this off is to time it right and performs
better if you strafe with R1 and then quickly pressing Square. The result
is quite impressive delivering a punishing slash and a lot of health, magic,
and regular souls to swirl about. Hajiki Issen is when you deflect an
attack and almost simultaneously press the Square button to counterattack
with the same result as an Issen.
-	Don't forget your ranged weapons, Samanosuke probably has better reach by
using a bow and different arrows, so if your range attack is at your
advantage, use it.
-	Rotate the left analog stick [L3 button] if you are in enemy grasps, frozen,
or knocked down to get up faster or escape faster, this becomes a crucial
role in sustaining damage.
-	Magic, most boss fights, especially later in the game - almost require you
to use magic with your weapons just to make the fighting time go by quickly
plus give thy enemy more of a hurt. Don't forget also that you can switch
weapons during battle so that you can use all 3 weapons (if you have them)
and their magic attacks, give them all you got.
-	Upgrade your weapons and armor when you can. Spend the souls you've
accumulated during fights at the Protective Mirrors to upgrade yours
weapons, armor, and gauntlet. If you have extra time keep going back and
forth through some areas to take out enemies to build up your soul gauge
-	Conserve herbs, medicine, med kits, after some major battles with tough
enemies or a group of them have Ako wear the White Haroi to help conserve
your HP by standing still. You'll be thankful you have extra heals handy.
-	Onimusha mode - if you have the 5 slots filled press in the [R3] button to
be invincible to enemy attacks and quickly get in some good shots at your
enemy. Also if your health bar runs out and you still have the 5 slots
filled you'll automatically go into Onimusha mode and have some more time
to hack away, although when your Onimusha mode runs out you'll have little
health left - so heal!
-	Charge attacks are very useful in some situations. Pressing and holding
down the Square button waiting for it to be charged (determining on how
hard you are pressing) will result in charging up the weapon. Depending on
what level you've charged the weapon, if you have upgraded a weapon to
level 2 you can charge it up twice, if it's max level to 3 you can charge
it up 3 times to pack more a punch in with your attacks.

B. [ Ako's Help ] --------
Thank god you have a fairy alongside with you, Ako is really helpful other than
looking cute and grabbing far away items from chests. As you play the game you'll come
across Haroi's that Ako can wear, each bearing a certain ability and color. So keep
and eye out from chests and smash everything in the surroundings to find Eco Spirits
to activate the Haroi's for her to wear. Here are a few examples of her Haroi's and
its ability.

- Blue Haroi: Faster soul absorption
- Red Haroi: Nothing but red souls will come out of enemy, allowing for higher soul
gauge
- Green Haroi: Allows you to draw soul and life from enemies while doing the soul
absorb
- White Haroi: Standing still will recover your health
- Yellow Haroi: Draw souls from enemy every attack
- Orange Haroi: Show's enemy HP and Critical Timing
- Purple Haroi: Uses less magic from the magic meter when you use magic attacks
[How to get: In the Mont-Saint-Michel Phantom Realm area, complete the Phantom Realm]
- Black Haroi: Critical attacks with every hit but sacrafice your own HP
[How to get: In Critical Training [Issen Training] complete all difficulties]

As you can see you'll want to switch out Ako's attire at the times you most see fit.
But I can't stress this enough to save up on your healing with herbs, medicine, med
kits, and Secret Med. After taking on a lot of enemies or if you sense a boss fight in
the next door, equip Ako with the White Haroi and stand still to recover you HP. Sure
it might take awhile but it'll pay off for you in the end.

It's also nice to outfit Ako with the Orange Haroi to see how far or how much HP is
needed to take out a boss, of course you won't get this till later in the game but
comes useful in some situations.

And I do recommend during boss battles if you don't want to monitor the bosses HP that
you have the Blue Haroi equipped on little Ako so you can grab souls quickly or the
Purple Haroi if you have it to conserve on your magic.

===================================
III. The Bosses
===================================
Well this is what you came for right?! So on with the Boss strategies!

====================================================
A. [- Ranmaru Mori -]                              |
|  [- Difficulty: Very Easy -]                     |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Regular Sword -]           |
|  [- Location: Honnoji Temple - Japan -]          |
====================================================
I just added this in to be funny, this fight is honestly really easy since it's only
3-5 minutes into the game, just block his attacks, strafe and slash away at him. You
can even try practicing your Issen and Hijiki Issen maneuvers if you wanted, if not
just make short work of this guy and you'll move on with the game, but this won't be
the last of Ranmaru.

=====================================================
B. [- Brainstern -]                                |
|  [- Difficulty: Easy -]                           |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Tenso (dual swords) -]      |
|  [- Location: Arc de Triumph - Paris, France -]   |
=====================================================
Least it's not another demon possessed tank or helicopter in a ninja/samurai game
(cough). Anyways, this flying mecha can be disposed of quite easily. Brainstern has at
least 4 major attacks - missiles, gunfire, mecha punch and spin attack. Missiles can
be easily avoided by seeing the ground and the black dots they make, simply just don't
be in the area around them. Gunfire you can avoid by using the block to your advantage.
The punch this mecha does is predictable and can be blocked, but it's so predictable
that you should just strafe out of the way so you can attack it faster. The spin
attack is kinda tricky cause you have to have some distance to see the spin attack
coming and allow it sometime to spin and then block, cause if it hits you right when
it starts spinning you'll block it but it will still move forward and get you while
you are stunned, so wait awhile and have some distance for you to block it. Right at
the start of the battle hack and slash away at it, use your magic up on it as well.
You can also hide behind some objects on top the Arc de Triumph, but they'll be
quickly reduced to rubble. You'll notice you are making progress when stuff starts
falling off the mecha and then begins the spin attack. Remember to have some distance
to time the block just right so it won't have another chance to get you while you are
stunned from the block. After wards strafe in quickly to continue hacking away at it.
Heal when necessary and you make scrap heap out of this mecha in no time.

=====================================================
C. [- Marcellus -]                                  |
|  [- Difficulty: Easy/Medium -]                    |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Enja (chain sword) -]       |
|  [- Location: Mt. Hiei - Japan -]                 |
=====================================================
Hey it's our ever so precocious friend from Onimusha 1, takes a licking and keeps on
ticking. As you can see from the beginning of the fight, there is an Oni Fly above the
room, you'll be needing that. First thing is first, Marcellus is a tough dude to
handle cause of his shield, I suggest you keep using your Enja weapon with it's fire
magic to quickly get rid of that - whether tons of blows to the shield or simply
hitting him from behind when you strafe out of the way works - his shield will break
away eventually and leave him more vulnerable, but then again this is where he can be
very tough. You'll need to dodge/strafe from his attacks trying to predict where that
might land, after doing so and he misses get some hits on him during that time. It's a
shame Marcellus can't be stunned but he can stun you, his mighty swings with the sword
will send you sliding around and leave you open for another attack, so make sure when
you block he is only taking 1 swing at you. He'll then do another attack where he'll
charge up his sword in the air and quickly slam it on the ground, covering the room
with electricity. That's where the Oni Fly comes in, this attack is easy to predict so
time it right to avoid getting shocked. Oni Fly could also be helpful to dodge his
mighty sword swings as well seeing that you'll almost automatically attack from the
air after swinging off the Oni Fly. Keep repeating the strafing and slashing to send
this old buddy packing.

[Added Extra Tip: It has become apparent to me that this guy can be pretty easy by
doing a few simple things. With the Enja you can press Up + Attack button [Square] to
result in a forward thrusting motion. This will allow Marcellus to always be in
blocking mode and will cause a lot of souls to swirl out. Couple forward thrusts and
step back to collect the souls and then continue on at him till the shield eventually
goes away. At this time he won't be fazed by your hits since he'll always be on the
offense. Use the strategy above at this point and when he goes for the big swings and
lightning smash use the Oni Fly to quickly escape.]

=====================================================
D. [- Heihachi Honda I -]                           |
|  [- Difficulty: Easy -]                           |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Raisen (polearm spear) -]   |
|  [- Location: Senshuu - Japan -]                  |
=====================================================
Not sure if this is a race against time or just to hang in there, pretty much it's a
hang in there type deal since there is no timer, seeing that you boat is slowly
sailing away while you are fighting. This is a pretty easy fight since you have
Samanosuke alongside you fighting, more so of a chance to test your new weapon out.
You can either run around and try not to let this guy hit you and let Samanosuke deal
with him, or fight back while defending yourself as well. Try not to use any herbs or
medicines, unless you really need to and just hang in there - pretty soon a cutscene
will come up and you'll stop the fighting.

=====================================================
E. [- Genma Ranmaru Mori -]                         |
|  [- Difficulty: Easy -]                           |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Tenso (dual swords) -]      |
|  [- Location: Underwater Temple -]                |
=====================================================
Told ya he would be back....just a different look and a bit tougher. He is quite the
speedy fellow so if you are having some trouble landing hits on him with the Kuga
sword, you might wanna switch back to the Tenso dual swords. At this time it might be
wise to have at least your armor upgraded to level 2 and either Tenso or Kuga at level
2, for me I upgraded my Tenso to level 2. But if you wish to use the Kuga, so be it.
Since he is speedy, you have to be just as equally speedy, well speedy enough to dodge
his attacks, close combat fighting is easy to block or strafe pass as soon as he
performs a slash. Try to knock in a combo or so in as well - using some magic from the
Kuga and Tenso weapons. He'll also shoot out yellow fireballs at you if you are
distanced so you can easily block them or dodge them if needed, fire some ranged
weaponry back with your arrow if you want, just don't blow all your arrows on this guy.
You'll also notice that he has dual soul grabbing gauntlets that also double for his
weapons, when you perform a series of slashes on him souls will pop up and you'll get
to see him trying to suck them back up as well, pretty slowly I might add. During this
time you too can do a soul struggle with him to obtain the souls you knocked out of
him or have the opportunity to strike him, depending on your health you can make the
choice there, if you don't wanna blow a herb or medicine now, then try sucking up the
yellow soul, if you are pretty full health wise show him whose boss with some steel.
The best way to land a combo on him or attack him when he least expects it, is to wait
till he does a flip around/over you, when he lands - let your swords fly. Like I said
he is a speedy one but keep this strategy in mind and you'll bring him to a halt.

=====================================================
F. [- Gertrude (Guard Dog) -]                 |
|  [- Difficulty: Easy -]                           |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Hyosai (ball and chain) -]  |
|  [- Location: Underwater Temple -]                |
=====================================================
Well you awoke the beast and it's time to pay, or in this case make it pay. Another
Oni Fly battle again, you can yet use this to your advantage to dodge this beasts
rushing attacks or just trying to a get a hit in from above. The beasts right head
(your left when facing it) deals with electric type of attacks, while the beasts other
head on the left (your right) deals with ice damage. Weird combo indeed, but a pretty
easy battle to pull off - you just need to watch out for the beasts ice breathe attack
which can be really annoying. You'll get frozen and seems no matter how hard or fast I
mash the buttons it's kinda hard to escape all the time. So at all cost try to avoid
the ice breathe. You'll also notice when it'll charge, if you feel it might charge
just get ready to whip onto the Oni Fly, it when after the beast charge you can get
good time to attack it. I suggest pulling out the Enja for awhile to deal fire type
magic damage, and to cover a good area in hitting a blow to the beast, but really the
Hyosai will deal the most damage. Try not to get yourself in front of the beast but
attack from the sides and behind so you won't get hit. At times the beast will swipe
at you but more than likely miss if you aren't too close or stand up and stomp, it's
up to you to decide where he'll stomp and strafe out side or back away. The electric
type head's magic is easy to know where the attack will land, you'll notice a couple
of yellow dots on the ground just stay away from them, the one that will strike first
is the one that pulsates yellow and then finally hits. Use heals when you need them,
all in all, this battle will be easy if you keep using the Oni Fly to get out of the
way and keep slashing away.

[Added Extra Tip: It is also possible to wait for Gertrude charge attack and be behind
a solid wall - strafe, run, or swing out of the way in time for it to run into the
wall and be stunned. At that time it'd be great to start delivering some damage to the
beast. Also, hoping around on the Oni Flies work well in damaging the beast and halt
some of it's magic attacks, so latch on and attack from above as well.]

=====================================================
G. [- Guildenstern -]                               |
|  [- Difficulty: Easy/Medium -]                    |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Chigo (great axe) -]        |
|  [- Location: Zoo - Paris, France -]              |
=====================================================
Again hopefully you've had some time to upgrade so for now, your armor should be
around level 2 as well as your Chigo be around level 2, and probably gauntlet as well,
but really your armor and Chigo should be at that level. It's time to take on this
crazy genma scientist that got you in this situation in the first place. This battle
is borderline easy to medium, adding the medium in there if you might have some
trouble taking on multiple enemies, that's why I suggest your Chigo and armor be level
2 for it to be a bit easier. Guildenstern will be flying about semi-transparent lucky
for you, you have a bow. It is when his center of body or heart starts glowing red
that you want to strike, if far away or in the air let an arrow fly or if he is
reachable on ground take a swing at him. He also has the ability to fire off his
weapon at you but they are easy to dodge and then he can summon up to 2 genma knights
to take care of your hides. With the Chigo upgraded to level 2, at least 3-4 swings
from this weapon will take care of them. Quickly absorb the souls for health
restoration off these guys. The Kuga at level 2 should work well if you have magic
left over in them, though I only advise using the Kuga for magic attacks when the 2
genma knights are up and Guildenstern is close to them glowing red, this should hit
all 3 of them delivering great damage to Guildenstern and taking out both the genma
knights. A good strategy to go about this is to try and distance both these genma
knights so that it'll take Guildenstren longer to revive them, so try and lure one to
the other side of the room and keep the other on the opposite side if you can, just to
make it a bit easier. Usually when Guildenstern floats down to revive them that's when
you'll see the red glow and that's when you want to make your attack. So you have to
take out one of the genma knights in order for him to be exposed. Near the end of the
battle Guildenstern will use the time folder to reset you back to the beginning to
fight him all over again, if you get caught in it don't worry just keep repeating the
process till you beat him, although you can escape the time folder portal by simply
running out of the area it is affecting. Heal when you can since those genma enemies
can really cut your health down to size quickly and this battle should be no problem.

[Added Extra Tip: About the genma knights, they can also be easily dispatched without
swinging at them. You need to be some distance away from them, when they charge up for
a fireball get really close and block. The fireball will most likely deflect and hit
them back. Also electric or ice arrows for hitting Guildenstern from a distance works
great as well.]

=====================================================
H. [- Heihachi Honda II -]                          |
|  [- Difficulty: Easy -]                           |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Raisen (polearm spear) -]   |
|  [- Location: Mont-Saint-Michel, France -]        |
=====================================================
More of the same as last time, just a fair fight is all. Yet again all you have to do
is hang in there again as he is just putting on an act for Vega Donna. I suggested
using the Raisen polearm spear just because this weapon seemed to work a bit better
than the other 2. Hopefully at this time it is upgraded to level 2 as well. I wouldn't
want to waste some heals here either, so every time you are able to knock health souls
out of him please take the time to snatch them up if you can. Just hang in there and
he'll eventually stop this charade, quite funny if you ask me too.

=====================================================
I. [- Gertrude (Guard Dog) Redux -]           |
|  [- Difficulty: Hard -]                           |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Chigo (great axe) -]        |
|  [- Location: Mont-Saint-Michel, France -]        |
=====================================================
This boss I really had the most trouble with in fighting it, giving that it's somewhat
of a small area to fight in to dodge some attacks and the ice breath is just plain
ridiculous to me, so I've found myself cursing at this fight while struggling with it.
It's best to be ready and prepared for this fight to the fullest - meaning that you
have full health, full magic meter for all 3 weapons, and a full Onimusha meter with
all 5 slots filled up. Still having your all 3 weapons upgraded to level 2 as well as
armor and gauntlet at level 2 should be helpful, what would even be more helpful is if
either your armor or Chigo was at it's max level of 3. Hopefully you've divvyed up
your heals between Samanosuke and Jacques to equal portions, just try to have a few
more for Samanosuke for later as well. And that you have a wooden talisman in case (be
nice to save for later though). Almost the same strategy as before, the beast deals
with electric and ice magic and has really mean charges. You can pretty much dodge
it's normal rush charge by simply timing your run and incorporating a strafe move when
it gets close to nearly miss you, after the charges is the best time to strike. It
also has 2 more elemental charges where it'll do 2 rushes in a row so place yourself
carefully and be on your toes. My biggest gripe about this fight was still the ice
breath freezing you up constantly especially when you are trying to roll away and heal
up. My suggestion is that you keep yourself distant from this guy until after charges
for you to strike and then distance yourself again. Some of its lightning magic is
hard to avoid, but usually the ground based lighting attacks are easier to avoid just
as before. Now that you know what to watch out for and when to attacks it's time to
work on the areas of attacking. You'll notice that on this beast is black armor
protecting it, and it you check from time to time with Ako wearing the Orange Haroi,
if his armor isn't broken up good, it's health will still be full. Suggest you still
have Ako's Blue Haroi equipped for faster soul absorption. Work on the front leg
armors on both sides of the beast to break them up to where its flesh will be exposed.
Then work on both the heads to break up the armor covering the faces. This is now the
time to start dealing some more damage to this nasty boss. When both heads are exposed,
start using up all yours magic in all 3 of yours weapons on the heads and keep working
at it. You can even go into Onimusha mode if you are still having trouble breaking up
some armor or want to deal more damage while the armor is gone. I also found charging
your weapon too will be useful against the armor so try that when you have a good
opportunity. Heal when you can cause this is a tough battle especially when it's hard
to escape the ice breathe. Just make sure the armor is gone before you can dispose of
this boss. I don't think the armor on its back legs is much of a problem, mostly the
front and heads you'll have a faster time working on in taking out this beast quickly.

[Added Extra Tip: If you charge your weapon by pressing R1 in and wait for the beast
to do a normal charge at you, there is a good chance if you time your slash just right,
there is a good chance you'll stop the beast head on and do some serious damage. Same
works if you want to take out the back armor. With the Chigo, charge up and wait for a
normal charge, when the beast comes at you strafe while still charging up the weapons
with either R1 or Square and deliver a spinning slash to the back armor and legs.]

[==================SUB-BOSS STRATEGY==================]
[- Marcellus -]
[- Difficulty: Very Easy -]
[- Weapon of Choice: Raisen (polearm spear) -]
[- Location: Rooftop - Genma Fortress - Japan -]
=======================================================
Once again this evil menace tries to halt your plans in reaching Nobunaga, fortunately
he is just another wall we have to crumble to get there. Actually, this fight is
pretty easy, you can either treat it as such as the first time you encountered him
[see C. Marcellus above] or completely humiliate him. If you decide to humiliate him
it's the easy way to take him out, but could be long and boring. Now you had to have
used an Oni Fly reaching the rooftop above and then Marcellus sprang out on you
correct? Well you can re-use that Oni Fly to go back down a level and he won't follow
you, just be stuck there on the side of the rooftop you once were. Some may say that
his is a small bug or exploit but hey, it works on our behalf and if you are playing
on the harder levels I am sure this will help out tremendously. So with Marcellus
being on the rooftop above you, all you have to do is target him and keep jabbing away
at him with your Raisen or Enja. Be sure to collect souls periodically to and you'll
come out of this battle virtually untouched. When his sheild goes away and he starts
doing the lightning ground smash he can hit your from the top of the roof top so you
might want to come back up and unleash some magic attacks on him. Course if you fight
him this way and you decide its taking way to slow, get back up there and whoop him.
Or you can wait still down there till your 5 Onimusha slots are filled pop back up and
go Onimusha mode on him. Basically Marcellus should be easy either way.

=====================================================
J. [- Vega Donna -]                                 |
|  [- Difficulty: Easy/Medium -]                    |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: All 3 weapons -]            |
|  [- Location: Genma Fortress - Japan -]           |
=====================================================
This boss is pretty hot for a demon insect type woman....I guess. Anyways, all weapons
should be around level 2 for Jacques by now if 1 or more are at max then good. Armor
should be maxed, hopefully but if not, still manageable. As you can see I don't have a
weapon of choice in this battle really seeing how the Hyosai ball and chain weapons
deals more damage, it's just pretty slow to attack and with Vega Donna's speed, it'll
be sort of tough landing a blow. That's why the Enja and Raisen might have a better
chance in this battle. So when the battle starts I suggest having the Enja sword chain
out first, you have to be somewhat fast and predict her movement to hit her early in
the stages of battle, hopefully your weapons have full magic seeing how this is a
great way to get damage on her. So start off using the fire magic on her till your
magic meter on the Enja is used up and switch to Raisen. Landing a magic attack on her
with the Raisen can be tricky if she sees it coming, but this weapon may be a bit
easier to hit her with regularly. You'll need to keep an eye on her attacks though.
There are some close combat attacks to can deflect easily, then she'll have an attack
where she clings to the wall and waits for you to be close, just be sure not to be in
her path to the other side of the wall our she'll rush you good. She'll even climb up
high onto the banisters and throw shurikens at you that can be easily blocked. Even on
ground they can be blocked as well. Just keep trying to give her hell with the Enja
and Raisen, and occasionally Hyosai ball and chain if you feel you are really good at
it. Close to the end of battle she'll make copies of herself to assist her in battle.
Can't really tell which one is real but at least they both do pretty much the same
actions just one is slower than the other, that must be the copy. If they are close to
each other then I say just swing away at both of them, no real reason to take out the
copy quickly unless you want too or have a hard time trying to find the copy. She'll
toss some more shurikens while on ground and some are poisoned, try not to get hit
with one, these as well can be easily blocked and if facing Vega Donna and the copy
there is a good chance of deflecting a poison shuriken back at one of them, leaving
them open for an attacks. Repeat the processes and watch out for her attacks to plot
the best actions for them, heal when needed as well and try to suck up the health
souls as much as you can to conserve some healing.

[==================SUB-BOSS STRATEGY==================]
[- Brainstern -]
[- Difficulty: Easy -]
[- Weapon of Choice: Chigo (great axe) -]
[- Location: Eiffel Tower - Paris, France -]
=======================================================
The Enemy is same as before just a little quicker and have to be pretty much on your
feet the whole time thanks to the static shocks of the time folder flickering about.
The black sparks are thing I am talking about of course and they can be predicted and
easy to stay out of the way. The Brainstern seems to do more melee attacks this time
around in what looks like a double punch so when you see those coming, get out of the
way, you can block but it may send you back into a static shock area. Not totally sure
if this might help during the fight but if you move up to the opposite side you came
in on where there is a bunch of wires and cables [north west, sort of] there is a
glass container supplying the energy for that area. When the blue light is exposed
swing away at it till it breaks. This should result in shutting down the energy,
stopping the static shocks and revealing the passage to your next area. Once again I
am just speculating if this will help you in battle, if not or you don't want to
before with that just continue battling the Brainstern, should be the same way as
before, [see B. Brainstern above] simple.

=====================================================
K. [- Genma Ranmaru Mori Redux -]                   |
|  [- Difficulty: Easy/Medium -]                    |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Chigo (great axe) -]        |
|  [- Location: Eiffel Tower - Paris, France -]     |
=====================================================
Once again if it hasn't been done already all your weapons, armor, and gauntlet should
defiantly be at level 2, even more so your armor should be maxed at level 3 as well as
your Chigo. Also going into the battle with all weapons with its magic meter full
would be great. Ranmaru is just like before except a little bit faster and dual wields
swords from his gauntlets. But he is still pretty simple, I tacked on the medium
difficulty in case you haven't brought your armor or one of yours weapons to its max
level. He fights just like before, except when one of his swords glows red it's pretty
hard to stop, in fact I don't think you can possibly block so you might want to try
and be distant from him. He still shoots out fireballs constantly, even faster than
before, block or strafe to get past them. What I did was start out with the Tenso
swords, their magic seemed to have a great effect on him. Keep hitting him with the
light magic until you run out and switch over to the Kuga for a bit. If you are lucky
to land a magic attack on him, then great, other wise, he will be too fast to hit
while you charge for the magic attack. If not, then try to smack him around a bit with
the Kuga for some more decent damage. Then switch over to the Chigo and use your earth
magic on him. Feel free to slash away at him with the Chigo as well and since it is
level 3 maxed should deal a lot of hurt to him. And if you have the item that restores
the magic, then use it on either the Tenso or Chigo, for me I used it on the Tenso
swords to deliver to final magic blows to him. Use heals when appropriate and Ranmaru
shouldn't be much more of a problem, or will he?

=====================================================
L. [- Nobunaga Oda - First Interaction -]           |
|  [- Difficulty: Easy/Medium -]                         |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Hyosai (ball and chain) -]  |
|  [- Location: Honnoji Temple, Japan -]            |
=====================================================
Armor should be maxed as well as one of your weapons, hopefully the Hyosai. Nobunaga
time now and he is pretty light on his feet, he strafes pretty fast when you go to hit
him, usually when his sword glows red and black it's a good time to use the Oni Fly to
dodge this attack and set up for an attack combo. Now if you have Jacques' Ultimate
Whip from the final Phantom Realm you can make short work of Nobunaga by attacking him
with the Triangle button, 5-6 lashes should do the trick - see there obtaining the
Ultimate Whip just for 1 battle can be worth it. And then the reason why I am giving
this a medium difficulty is because, if you don't have the Ultimate Whip, it may take
awhile to actually hit him, so use all your weapons in this one and use up all the
magic it can handle. I found the ice magic from this Hyosai and the fire magic from
Enja a bit more useful. The Hyosai is still a bit slower but can be very effective.
The Enja would probably cover more ground quicker, as well as the Raisen will be
perfect, just a tad hard to get some magic attacks in on him. You can block his normal
sword swipes and deflect his fireballs, but try not to get so close sometimes cause
he'll grab you and have his way with you. So mostly the best opportunity to strike is
after his attacks, the strafe the attack technique should work well after a normal
swords swing. And again when his sword glows red and black use the Oni Fly to get out
of the way and start attacking him from behind. Keep this technique up for awhile as
well as healing when you can. Luckily this is your last battle with Jacques so you
don't have to worry bout using up all your herbs, medicines, med kits, and secret meds
up. And if push comes to shove and you still have your wooden statue talisman, it can
revive you when your health runs out. So give him hell with Jacques, pretty soon
Nobunaga will succumb to your blows.

=====================================================
M. [- Nobunaga Oda - Second Interaction -]          |
|  [- Difficulty: Very Easy -]                      |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Onimusha Sword -]           |
|  [- Location: Honnoji Temple, Japan -]            |
=====================================================
I don't know if maxing out one of your weapons or armor will be helpful here but if
you have the resources to do so, then go ahead - hopefully by now you have already
done so. Well it's Samanosuke's turn at Nobunaga and well, by the circumstances,
Samanosuke is pretty pissed. And wow being in true Onimusha mode is so friggin sweet.
The battle is pretty easy just charge at him and slash away, you're invinsible and
can't be touched so his swings will automatically be blocked, keep hacking away and
this battle shall end soon.

=====================================================
N. [- Demon Genma Nobunaga - Final Interaction -]   |
|  [- Difficulty: Medium/Hard -]                    |
|  [- Weapon of Choice: Onimusha Sword -]           |
|  [- Location: Demon Realm -]                      |
=====================================================
Wow, this is just so awesome to see, Nobunaga in his demon form is just graphically
impressive and at first very intimidating, but what do you care right - you are in
true Onimusha form. This battle has about 3 stages to it so well start off with the
first stage of course:

[First Stage]: Demon Nobunaga will be levitating with 4 pods surrounding him that
attack as his ranged weapons and defense. You'll also need to watch out for the pods 2
attacks and Demon Nobunaga's attack as well. The pods attack consists of white flame
burst shots, easy to strafe quickly out of the way from or block, I suggest you strafe
around them and then when the pods are closer together in the air 4 point laser blast,
try to find a good opening to strafe into to miss being hit, course you should be
pretty distant from Nobunaga at that point. If you are close to Demon Nobunaga as well
he'll land on the ground and lift up his sword and swat you, I suggest you just back
way quickly cause it's really hard to block and strafe out of the way of this. Now
it's time to attack, after the pods have done their attacks such as the white flame
burst shots move in and start slashing at Nobunaga, the pods will quickly form and
defend him there, bout 4-5 slashes and go to absorb the white souls that came from
them. You'll notice that the 5 slots where your Onimusha meter will be starting to
fill up. You'll need to repeat the process of dodging the pods 2 attacks and after
every attack move in quickly to slash at the pods and quickly absorb the white souls.
And remember when Nobunaga lands and lifts his sword up don't be near him, after he
slams the ground with the sword move in to slash at the pods again. When the 5 slots
are filled up you'll notice your Onimusha Sword glow white, this is the time to slash
at the pods again to blow them up. Once they are blown up try to get some more hits on
at Demon Nobunaga and he'll summon 4 more pods again. Repeat this process of attacking
the pods and collecting the white souls to fill up the meter again to blow up the pods
once more, then Nobunaga will finally decide enough is enough and fight you face up.
Heal if needed but try not to be damaged by the pods or Nobunaga's sword slam - they
should be pretty easy to avoid in order to conserve heals.

[Second Stage]: No more pods just you and him now, you'll have to use the strafe
attacking combo method in this situation again, when you see him ready for a sword
slash get out of the way, I've found it better to strafe behind him and continue
slashing away at his backside.  Aside from sword swinging, Demon Nobunaga's other
attacks consist of a fire swing which can be avoidable if you stay behind him and
pretty close, tornado slash that is also avoidable by staying behind him and then
running to avoid the funnels, and a lightning attack as before you'll see the yellow
dots on the ground where they will strike, just don't be around them. Continue to
dodge his attacks and keep slashing away at his sides and backside. About 1-2 times
he'll fall down to his knee and rest up a bit, just keep slashing away at him or at
this time charge up your Onimusha Sword 2-3 times to deliver a harder blow. Could also
use the Triangle attack as you see fit as well to deliver harder single blows. Keep
repeating this and heal up when needed and the next time he falls to his knees he
should drop the sword into the ground. At this time use your soul absorption to suck
out all the white and red souls emitting from this sword, keeping sucking it up until
you gain possession of his sword. This will bring us to Nobunaga's final stage.

[Third Stage]: Wow now he is pissed, kick ass graphics still Capcom! At this point his
attacks are pretty hard to avoid, blocking his charge and fire blast attacks won't
work much so hopefully you'll have some heals left over, Secret Meds and medicines
should work great. Once again try to get behind or just close to Demon Nobunaga to
keep slashing away at him, also charging up this sword 3 times by holding down the
Square button hard till you see 3 pulses should do it. And then deliver a hard blow to
him. You can also press the Triangle button to deliver even harder single blows to him
to bring him down faster I just found it funny to play with him charging up the sword
and hitting him with a combo to keep bringing him to his knees. When you decide he has
had enough keep tapping the Triangle button to deliver the hard and final swings at
him, pretty soon he should fall to the ground completely and you have succeeded.

The battle can take awhile and you might need a lot of heals to keep you in there and
hopefully you have a wooden statue talisman to keep you in there for longer. When you
get use to the method of this battle it will become pretty simple and a kick ass
conclusion to a final battle.

Congratulations! You've just beat Onimusha 3 and concluded the series known as
Onimusha! It's all over....or is it? At least for the Onimusha series it is.

====================================
IV. Outroduction
====================================
Well I hope this Boss FAQ was useful at least in the later battles. I am trying to see
about gathering all the Harois for Ako to see what they are capable of and it looks
like I need to get the last 2 in the Phantom Realm. I am also curious on how the
different difficulty settings the bosses will remain the same or hurt even more. As
for now I am taking a slight break for this awesome game, and just say I am truly
impressed on Capcom's series wrap up, terrific game.

If anyone has any questions, suggestions, added extra tips, links to good Onimusha
sites or just small tid bits to ask don't hesitate to e-mail me about them and I'll be
sure to post whatever I missed or is helpful to this boss FAQ. My e-mail address is
majincloud@hotmail.com - use it responsibly people! Also if you have another site you
would want to post this FAQ on please just ask for my permission first, most times
I'll agree for you to use if you don't alter anything, just asking for credit and
permission first and again you can e-mail me about that.

I'll be wrapping up this Boss FAQ soon, hopefully adding some more knowledgeables to
it that could give this FAQ an even more in depth look - but for now I hope the
strategies I've posted help out, good luck with the game!

====================================
V. Credits and Thanks
====================================
First off I got to give credits to some random walkthroughs on the Gamefaqs.com site
for helping me gather a list of the names of the bosses. Give credit to Capcom for
making this great game - the wonderful and brilliant team at Robot in making one hell
of a CG opener. Credit goes out to Jean Reno and Takeshi Kaneshiro for playing
excellent roles in the game, sound and mo-cap. And thanks to Gamefaqs.com if they
decide to publish this boss FAQ on the site as well. And I have to give credit and
thanks to the player Shin that I've seen some videos of him playing Onimusha 3 on Hard
Mode and gave me ideas in beaten most bosses in the game with ease, arigato Shin and
great work.

- CJayC, for submitting my FAQ on the wonderful Gamefaqs.com
- Shin, seen some videos of his fighting the bosses on Hard Mode, really awesome work
- Greyfoxninja and Chriswan Wanata, for telling me about the Purple Haroi's ability
- Gray Fox and Gamefaq Boards, for the info on Black Haroi
- Mpagar, for telling me while fighting Nobunaga in Onimusha form, you can't be hit
- Hank Hu, for showing that using Jacques' Ultimate Whip will make Nobunaga fight easy

====================================
VI. Version History
====================================
-	Version 5.5 | May 1, 2004 - Started and semi-finished boss FAQ to liking
-	Version 6.0 | May 2, 2004 - Completed Boss FAQ and ready to submit
-	Version 7.0 | May 4, 2004 - Fixed Errors, added some more info to the boss
tips, added help to a few sub-bosses, added links section, added extra tips
on bosses, and added a few credits
-	Version 7.5 | May 11, 2004 - Added some to Swordplay Tips, Completed Ako's
Haroi section, updated the correct locations of the bosses, fixed some
errors, gave some added tips, name corrections

====================================
VIII. Onimusha Links
====================================
http://www.capcom.com - Official Capcom website
http://www.oni-musha.com - Official Onimusha website
http://www.gamefaqs.com - Best video game FAQ site
http://village.infoweb.ne.jp/~shin/BIOHAZARD.htm - Shin's Onimusha 3 Boss Videos
*Please try not to distribute this link to much to save on transfer time and space

====================================
XI. Copyright
====================================
Please e-mail me permission before you use my FAQ on any site I haven't already
submitted or authorized to do so already - majincloud@hotmail.com

Copyright 2004 - Onimusha 3: Demon Siege Boss FAQ
All Right Reserved - Marc Piniol - Majin Cloud
www.cloudsrealm.net